Myrddin Wyllt

Myrddin Wyllt
Myrddin and St. Kentigern (Stobo Kirk, Scotland)
Born	Carmarthen
Nationality	Welsh
Known for	Prophet and madman in Welsh legend; served as the inspiration for Merlin in Arthurian legend

Myrddin Wyllt (Welsh: [ˈmərðɪn ˈwɨɬt]—"Myrddin the Wild", Cornish: Merdhyn Gwyls, Breton: Marzhin Gouez) is a figure in medieval Welsh legend. In Middle Welsh poetry he is accounted a chief bard, the speaker of several poems in The Black Book of Carmarthen and The Red Book of Hergest. He is called Wyllt—"the Wild"—by Elis Gruffydd,^[1] and elsewhere Myrddin Emrys ("Ambrosius"), Merlinus Caledonensis ("of Caledonia") or Merlin Sylvestris ("of the woods").^[2] Myrddin Wylt was born in 540 CE.^{[citation needed]}

Although his legend centres on a known Celtic theme, Myrddin's legend is rooted in history, for he is said to have gone mad after the Battle of Arfderydd (Arthuret) at which Rhydderch Hael of Strathclyde defeated the Brythonic king Gwenddoleu. According to the Annales Cambriae this took place in 573.^[2] Myrddin fled into the forest, lived with the beasts and received the gift of prophecy.^[3]

Myrddin Wyllt's legend closely resembles that of a north-British figure called Lailoken, which appears in Jocelyn of Furness' 12th-century Life of Kentigern. Scholars differ as to the independence or identity of Lailoken and Myrddin, though there is more agreement as to Myrddin's original independence from later Welsh legends.

Myrddin's grave is reputed to lie near the River Tweed in the village of Drumelzier near Peebles, although nothing remains above ground level at the site.^[2]